Central Notes: Cardinals, Royals, Pirates, Indians

Carlos Martinez’s extension with the Cardinals was largely spurred by the right-hander and agent Brian Mejia, the latter of whom first approached the Redbirds about a new deal nearly a year ago, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While Martinez secured a guaranteed $51MM and could earn up to $86MM if the Cardinals exercise club options for both 2022 and ’23, Craig Edwards of FanGraphs opines that it’s not a great deal for the player, arguing that the 25-year-old may have left roughly $100MM on the table by eschewing the chance to hit free agency after the 2019 season. As Edwards points out, though, it’s difficult to fault Martinez for choosing security for him and his family – especially given the recent deaths of two fellow Dominicans, ex-Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and former Kansas City righty Yordano Ventura. Plus, Martinez will still have an opportunity to hit free agency as a 31-year-old if he sees this contract through. “He could have just pointed to (age) 28 as a free agent,” general manager John Mozeliak said Thursday. “He chose not to.”

More from the majors’ Central divisions:

While the newly signedBrandon Moss looks like a strong candidate to become the Royals’ everyday designated hitter, the team doesn’t aim to use him that way. “We didn’t sign Brandon to be our DH,” GM Dayton Moore revealed Wednesday (via Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star). “We plan on rotating that slot. We have an aging lineup, as we know. I think it’s going to be very beneficial to give a lot of our position players an opportunity to DH from time to time.” Moore added that Moss’ ability to play both corner outfield and first base “was important for us.” Moss has spent the majority of his career in the American League, but he has seen far more time in the outfield and at first (a combined 833 games) than DH (27 games).

The Pirates turned down trade offers – “some big, some small” – involving right-hander Chad Kuhl last summer, GM Neal Huntington informed Adam Berry of MLB.com. Now Kuhl, 24, figures to begin 2017 in the Pirates’ rotation after logging a 4.20 ERA, 6.7 K/9 against 2.55 BB/9 and a 44.3 percent ground-ball rate in 14 starts (70 2/3 innings) as a rookie last year. “He really didn’t surprise us internally,” Huntington said of Kuhl’s promising debut. “We’ve liked him for a long time.”

Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang earned his third DUI arrest in South Korea in December, but the team is proceeding as if it won’t affect his standing for spring training. “The expectation is that [Kang] will arrive and be ready to go,” Huntington told Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But until that happens, there’s always a chance that we could hit a snag.” Kang could still face punishment from Major League Baseball, but it’s unclear whether he has gone before a panel yet for an assessment, according to Nesbitt. Per the collective bargaining agreement, players in Kang’s situation “must appear before a joint panel agreed upon by the league and the player’s union,” writes Nesbitt, who notes that Kang is still under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that took place in Chicago last summer.

The Indians’decision to sign outfielder Wily Mo Pena to a minor league pact Tuesday came as a favor to their highest-profile offseason acquisition, first baseman/DH Edwin Encarnacion, writes Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. Encarnacion, who’s friends with Pena, asked the Tribe to venture to the Dominican Republic to observe Pena and other unnamed players work out. The Indians came away impressed enough to take a flyer on the 35-year-old Pena, who landed an invitation to spring training.

Comments

Hard to see the Pirates contending with a staff of Nova, Cole, Glasnow, Taillon and Kuhl but I guess it’s better than giving up on Meadows and some other top prospects for Quintana
Still would not be surprised if they add a veteran arm

What always gets me is guys like Searage who get looked up to as guru’s of pitching, yet couldn’t pitch effectively at the mlb level themselves. Dick pole was another example.. He was awful as a pitcher, yet when was with the Cubs as a coach? Would have sworn he was the 2nd coming pitchers and fans heaped so much praise upon him. It’s like they learned years later from their failures or something.

I don’t remember anyone saying that he prevented people from getting hurt? So settle down. Also Searge has prove that he can help struggling pitchers get better. It doesn’t always work, ask Cory Lubke and Clayton Richards. But it does work a lot with guys like Burnett, Liriano, Happ, Nova, Melancon.

Good analogy but on one hand, I just don’t think the young Pirate pitchers are on the same level as the Mets young guns of that year and on the other, the NL East didn’t have the Cubs and Cards
Anything is possible but again, it’s hard to see. Still, keep Cutch and let Meadows grow up a little. Same with Bell and the other prospects. Point to ’19 as the year they come of age

I agree about the giving up Meadows part. I said ever since the Q rumors started the ONLY way the pirates land him is if they gave up one of the big 2, more so Meadows. Surprisingly, some bloggers insisted it could get done with a package centered around Glasnow/Keller. I mean come on, there’s no way.. I dont see how they can think that. Anyway, it would have been wonderful to have a P like Q for those years of control. However, IMO if Meadows or Bell(before the injury) was the only way, which is, I’m 100% good with NH decision not to part with either. They are simply too important to a team like the pirates. You must give up something to get something, but in this case, while having Q would be huge, cannot give it Meadows, imperfectly fine with that.
I still can’t get over how these blogs can think they can land Q without giving up one of the top 2. Confusing to say the least. Only way Sox make a deal with the pirates is if they have Meadows or Bell(pre I jury) plus others.

The Orioles also have an offense that is unbelievably talented and a fantastic bullpen. Pittsburgh has an average offense and their pitching has a lot of question marks. I’d take the orioles’ chances of getting into the postseason over the pirates’ any day

It’s one thing to drink, it’s another to get behind the wheel afterwards. Drinking is not the problem ( although it may be with Kang), it is not finding some other means of transportation after partaking in libations. If you drink don’t drive, and if you drive don’t drink. I hope Kang soon figures that out. He is a very talented player.

The DR does indeed have Uber, and it’s not just for tourists. And the robbery/left for dead thing was debunked, the crash scene photos were released and he had all his jewelry and coroner reports he died on impact.

Completely despicable that the Pirates have not cut ties with Kang. DUIs are DUIs no matter what country they occur in. Along with other potential incidents he’s involved in, this guy is clearly a piece of garbage. But he’s a cheap, productive professional athlete! Let’s look the other way at the fact that he’s a monster for the sake of winning games! Joke. Hey Pittsburgh execs, hope you can look at yourselves in the mirror. You employ trash to win. Were you raised like that? This practice is all too common in sports though, sadly.